Slow-Cooker Beef and Two-Bean Chili

This chili pleases all palates in my house—it's not too spicy or too mild, but it's loaded with flavor. I love the combination of black beans and chickpeas, but you can use any type of legumes you like. What really makes the chili, in my opinion, are the toppings! Some sharp cheddar, a dollop of cumin-cilantro sour cream, and diced red onions are a must. Sometimes I even add some crushed tortilla chips.

Preparation

For the Cumin-Cilantro Sour Cream:

In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, cilantro, and cumin. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the chili:

Set a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef, salt, and pepper to taste. Cook, using a wooden spoon to break the meat into pieces as it browns, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain all the liquid from the pan. Add the tomato paste, onion, bell peppers, and garlic, and cook, stirring, until the vegetables have softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a slow cooker. Add 1 cup water, the black beans, chickpeas, tomatoes, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, and bay leaves.

Cover and cook on high for 5 hours or on low for 8 to 10 hours.

Discard the bay leaves. To serve, ladle the chili into 8 serving bowls. Top each with 1 tablespoon of the sour cream mixture, 1 tablespoon of the cheddar, the red onion, and tortilla chips, if desired.

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Reviews

I rate this three forks as-is, with this caveat: due to its ease and ability to be modified, it’s a four.
I initially made this for my dad a couple weeks after Mom died. I was heading back to Maine from California, and I wanted a good, hearty meal that I could freeze portions of for him to enjoy when I was gone. I poked around NYT Cooking and Epicurious, and found this. I didn’t have a slow cooker but knew I had the time to prep, cook, and simmer, so I wasn’t worried.
The chili turned out delicious, so much so that I kept thinking about it and decided to make it for my husband and daughter when I returned to Maine.
My customizations:
I used a small can of chipotle chilis in adobo sauce instead of the peppers in the tomatoes, which gave it a nice smoky/sweet flavor.
My dad doesn’t like chickpeas do I used pintos and used cannellini beans—but you can change the beans out however you like.
I added double (or triple) the cumin, some coriander.
I skipped the red bell pepper.
I swapped out the tomato sauce for a can of tomato paste and an extra can of tomatoes (Muir Glen). I’m Italian and we don’t use canned sauce. Lol.
When I got home, I made a 1.5x batch and it was outstanding.
Overall it is an excellent recipe. The key to this recipe (or any soup, stew, or chili) is the total adaptability. This is an excellent base recipe without the unnecessary additions of beer, and no need to chop jalapeños. If you’re looking for the recipe that is easy, customizable, and which you can simmer on the stove for a couple hours (or slow-cooker it) and enjoy for days, this is the one.
I can’t wait to try other variations. Maybe I will try a little beer, or even some peanuts....!

This was pretty 'meh'. I usually don't follow a recipe for chili and I think I'll go back to winging it. First of all, I should admit that I'm not a big fan of ground meat. I'm not a vegetarian but I think chili is one of those meals that is flavourful and hearty enough so why not leave the animal meat out? Also, I found this a bit greasy, but I probably didn't drain the meat enough. And matter of taste but this needed way more heat and zing so I would add more spice if I were you.